Central Village/SoHo Food & Culture Tour

This was a great tour to learn about the area both from a historical perspective and for future restaurant reservations! We tasted a substantial amount of food, lunch is definitely not necessary beforehand. I loved learning more about the neighborhood, but I think the best part is that you leave with a list of restaurants that you can try at a later time.

The tour was wonderful, as was the tour leader. Learned a great deal of interesting and fun facts about the area. All the food was delicious and a very adequate amount was given. Would highly recommend this tour!!!

Hi, Last week we took the GV/SOHO Food Tour. Was OK - but we thought that we would enter the restaurants that were listed on the brochure. Our Guide was very enthusiastic - but we could only enter 3 or 4 restaurants and sit down and have a "tasting." The other restaurants were "visited" by standing outside and looking at a locked door, or on one occasion, we were led into a dark unlit (no lights were turned on) basement and groping around among old dusty chairs and tables to try to find a place to sit! Aside from the dark dank atmosphere - the danger of tripping and falling was high. The big draw in the basement was that Bob Dylan performed there 30 years ago - What does that have to do with food tasting? I couldn't wait to get out of the basement without falling! At the last stop, we ate the tarts on the sidewalk and looked from across the street at Once Upon A Tart. Would have been nice to see the inside which was very charming when we walked across the street to have a look after the tour was over. It was obvious that some of the restaurants didn't want us inside - but why do you list them on the website? Why don't you develop a relationship with the other restaurants that might be more inclined to welcome visitors? You said one thing, but delivered something else.You advertised one thing, but didn't deliver what you advertised. Monte's Restaurant was very nice and also very delicious and the owner was very friendly. He knows the value of talking to potential customers. Overall, the tour was just OK - but it could have been much better. This is no reflection on the guide who was good and worked hard - but there was just so much he could do. Nice young man.

My friend and i enjoyed this tour alot but would have enjoyed it more on a cooler day. It was very hot and sunny, and we spent alot of the time walking. The venues were wonderful for the most part, and the guide told us about the history and culture of each area we went to.

Several years ago I took your Greenwich Village tour with friends and absolutely loved it. Last year my husband and I did the Chelsea Market tour and we also loved it. My husband and I liked and enjoyed this tour; but we didn't love it. The guide who led the tour did not offer a lot of historical information about an area of the city that has been settled by various groups for hundreds of years. There was a lot of name dropping like "Bob Dylan lived here"; Bob Dylan played a set here"; Eugene O'Neill read his play here"; "Bob Dylan wrote a song here". And yes, 75% of the comments were about Bob Dylan. I also found that the food tastings themselves lacked organization. We first had a sandwich on focaccia bread, then a pasta bolognese, followed by cheese cake. After this we had empanadas, then smoked mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes, followed by chocolate and pear tarts. Considering that the whole tour covered a very small area, I think that something could have been done to push all dessert tastings to the end. Other than that, the portions were more than generous and no one walked away hungry from the tour. The mix of people on the tour was nice. The weather was perfect. And we had a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend the Foods of NY tours to friends and relatives.

Wonderful tour and fabulous guide .. i'm already recommending it to all my friends!

I really enjoyed the selected restaurants and the interesting information our guide was able to share with us. I am a Brooklyn girl and it was great to learn about the village. Visited often in the late '60's of course I never knew all the history of the area.

Thank you Susan, for a wonderful afternoon! We had a great time learning about the central village and eating our way through it. I am already coming up with plans to head back to try the recommended places again! Our guide was knowledgable and lovely and the food was terrific and plenty of it. Thank you again for an amazing time!

I received tickets to this from my best friend as a birthday gift. Originally it was supposed to be me and her , but she had a conflicting school trip so I took my mom with me. We arrived early at the meeting point (cafe del mare) and were met by a very nice and enthusiastic guide named Susan. The whole tour was more than I could have ever expected or hoped for. We had three sit down tastings (cuba, bellavitae, monte's) and three on the go tastings (focacceria, once upon a tart, joe's dairy), as well as taking in various sites and learning about the history and culture of the area. The food I was prepared to enjoy, and I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed all the knowledge I absorbed about the history/culture. I took plenty of pics so my friend could feel like she was a part of it, and I am definitely coming back again to do the tour with her. I was so pleased with the tour I actually went back and shopped at three of the stores (raffettos, joes dairy, once upon a tart) before heading back to long island.

Three hours of thorough enjoyment. From the moment I met our guide, I knew we'd enjoy every minute of our tour. I liked Susan instantly. She was warm, comfortable, knowledgeable, articulate and a friend for three hours imparting all kinds of knowledge from historical, to cultural, to gastronomical. The tastings were substantial and delicious. I've done many food tours and this may have been my favorite although I've thoroughly enjoyed all.